Heat sink assembly

ABSTRACT

A heat sink assembly includes a heat sink and a number of protecting members. The heat sink includes a number of parallel fins. The fins form a fin assembly including a number of lengthwise corners at lateral sides of the fin assembly. Each lengthwise corner is covered by one of the protecting members. Each protecting member includes a first stop plate and a second stop plate engaging with two adjacent sides of the fin assembly, and a number of pairs of connecting plates between the first and second stop plates, at opposing ends of the first and second stop plates. A slot is bounded by each pair of connecting plates. The corners of the fins on upper and lower portions of the fin assembly engage and are retained by the slots in upper and lower portions of the protecting members.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a heat sink assembly.

2. Description of Related Art

Fins of a heat sink are always made of metal. In assembly, corners of the fins are a source of injury to an operator. In transportation, the corners of the fins are vulnerable to deformation and damage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawing, all the views are schematic, and like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an assembled, isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a heat sink assembly, wherein the heat sink assembly includes a heat sink and four protecting members.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the heat sink of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the protecting members of FIG. 1 from another perspective.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a heat sink assembly including a heat sink 10 and four protecting members 20.

Referring to FIG. 2, the heat sink 10 includes a base 12, a plurality of heat pipes 14 perpendicularly connected to the top of the base 12, and a plurality of fins 16 perpendicularly connected to the heat pipes 14. Each fin 16 is quadrate and includes four corners. The fins 16 are parallel to the base 12, and aligned and overlapped with one another to form a rectangular fin assembly, square in cross section, which includes four lengthwise corners at lateral sides of the fin assembly. Each lengthwise corner is formed by a plurality of overlapped corners of the fins 16.

Referring to FIG. 3, each protecting member 20 is made of plastic, and includes an elongated first stop plate 21, and an elongated second stop plate 23 perpendicularly extending from a longitudinal side of the first stop plate 21. A plurality of pairs of connecting plates 25 is perpendicularly connected between the inner sides of the first and second stop plates 21 and 23, arranged at opposite ends of the first and second stop plates 21 and 23. A slot 251 is bounded by each pair of connecting plates 25. The protecting member 20 as a whole presents the appearance of a rack or frame for holding objects in an orderly fashion.

Referring to FIG. 1, in assembly, the first and second stop plates 21 and 23 of each protecting member 20 are arranged to be perpendicular to the fins 16. The four protecting members 20 are respectively fixed to the four lengthwise corners of the fin assembly, to allow the upper slots 251 to take the corners of several fins 16 on the upper portion of the heat sink 10 into engagement, and to allow the lower slots 251 to take the corners of several fins 16 on the lower portion of the heat sink 10 into engagement. The first and second stop plates 21 and 23 of each protecting member 20 abut two adjacent sides of the fin assembly.

The four lengthwise corners of the heat sink 10 are covered by the protecting members 20, removing and insulating any sharp corners of the fin assembly as a source of injury. The corners of the fins 16 on the upper and lower portions of the heat sink 10 are firmly engaged in the upper and lower slots 251 of the four protecting members 20, the connecting plates 25 function as a support and shield for the corners of all the fins 16 and protect all fins 16 from damage or being deformed when the heat sink 10 suffers impact or crushing forces.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and the functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in details, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A heat sink assembly, comprising: a heat sink comprising a base, at least one heat pipe connected to the base, and a plurality of fins parallel to the base and connected to said at least one heat pipe, each of the fins comprising a plurality of corners, the fins being aligned and overlapped with one another and forming a fin assembly comprising a plurality of lengthwise corners at lateral sides of the fin assembly, each lengthwise corner being formed by a plurality of the corners of the fins; and a plurality of protecting members, wherein each lengthwise corner of the fin assembly is covered by a corresponding one of the protecting members, each protecting member comprises a first stop plate and a second stop plate respectively engaging with two adjacent sides of the fin assembly, and a plurality of pairs of connecting plates connected between inner sides of the first and second stop plates, at opposite ends of the first and second stop plates, a slot is bounded by each pair of connecting plates, the corners of the fins forming the corresponding lengthwise corner at upper and lower portions of the fin assembly respectively engage in the slots in upper and lower portions of the protecting members.
 2. The heat sink assembly of claim 1, wherein the fins have a same shape, and the number of the lengthwise corners is equal to the number of the corners of each fin.
 3. The heat sink assembly of claim 2, wherein each fin is quadrate and comprises four corners, the fin assembly comprises four lengthwise corners at lateral sides of the fin assembly, the number of the protecting members is four, the four protecting members respectively cover on the four lengthwise corners of the fin assembly.
 4. The heat sink assembly of claim 3, wherein the first and second stop plates of each protecting member are perpendicular to each other, and each pair of connecting plates is perpendicularly connected between the corresponding first and second stop plates.
 5. The heat sink assembly of claim 1, wherein said at least one heat pipe is perpendicularly connected to the base and the fins.
 6. The heat sink assembly of claim 1, wherein the protecting members are made of plastic. 